Content I Wish I Created #2: Ari Herstand’s Song or Album Release Checklist

I’ve been working on a release checklist of my own, but when I came across Ari Herstand’s, I was quite impressed. His focus is certainly different than mine, so I wouldn’t have put together a checklist quite like this (though I still wish I had). More than likely, I will be adding a few of these items to my list too.

#7: Register for YouTube & SoundCloud Revenue

#8: Pick Your Distribution Company

You must pick a distribution company to get your music out to all major outlets.

Do this earlier rather than later, because you might end up having to solve issues with album artwork and other details. If you’re looking to release on or before a specific day, leave some extra time to get your music distributed.

#10: Create a Folder of Assets

Create a folder on your desktop for your album and put everything in there – all your lyrics, WAVs and 320 kbps MP3s (include metadata) of every song including your instrumentals, track stems, high-res album cover (3000×3000 pixels), high-res album cover without the text, print-ready promo photos (300dpi), web versions of the promo photos, all your merch designs, text document with all your album credits by song, your bios (short and long), promo materials (flyer, poster, etc.), demos, music videos, behind-the-scene videos, and a text document containing login information for all sites, and links you’ll need to reference frequently.

#11: Get New Photos

You get to revamp yourself every time you release new music.

Get high-quality, professional photographs that accurately represent your music.

Have a conversation with your photographer about what the artistic direction of your project is and what your image is.

Take your top 10 edited photos and put them in your folder of assets.

Use your top three photos for promoting your release.

#12: Write a New Bio

Put together a new bio and elevator pitch based on your artistic direction.

#13: Write a New Press Release

A press release announces your latest music release to media outlets, blogs, newspapers, and so forth.

#14: Make a List of Blogs to Contact

Some of the biggest blogs out there are a part of Hype Machine, which is a blog aggregator. The most talked about songs begin to chart on Hype Machine.

Industry people go to Hype Machine to find what the latest trending songs are.

Hype Machine is not a place to submit your music. You’ll still need to find appropriate blogs to submit your music to (don’t forget to follow their submission guidelines).

Many blogs use SubmitHub to find music to write about, especially if they aren’t accepting submissions.

#15: Create Videos

Ari argues every song you create should have an accompanying video on YouTube.

When people have visual stimulation, they’re more likely to listen to your songs from start to end.

#16: Create a Bandcamp Page

Some people will pay more for your music if you offer a pay-what-you-want release.

#17: Create or Update Your Website Design

A new album demands a new website design. You should update your site’s design every few years regardless.

You can take advantage of hosting solutions and website builder tools like Bandzoogle, HostBaby, and Squarespace. So, you don’t need to hire an expensive web developer every time you’re looking to reskin your site.

Official content should be representative of your album.

#18: Rebrand Your Social Media Profiles

Use your promo assets to re-brand your social media profiles and pages.

#19: Start a Mailing List

If you don’t have one, start one – it’s the most important fan engagement tool you have.

Email marketing is 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined (!).

#24: Set up smartURL Links

Create smartURL links for everything, because it allows you to track clicks.

You can change where your smartURL links point to if need be.

#25: Register Your Trademark

Trademarking can be complicated, so find an attorney to help you.

#26: Form a Corporate Entity Like an LLC

This gives you legal protection, and the ability to open a bank account and do business as a corporate entity.

Final Thoughts

Ari’s list is awesome. It mixes the practical, technical, and promotional aspects of things you should do when releasing new music. When I put together my list (which I will likely share with you soon), I was primarily concerned with the promotional side of things (I’m a marketing guy – can’t you tell?) and some of the technical.

The great thing about this is that our lists are basically complementary. I can flesh mine out based on what I’ve learned from Ari’s hard-earned knowledge.

As for marketing, it’s a slightly different can of worms. The reason I say that is because you need to customize your marketing based on what your goals are, what kind of music you play, who your target audience is, and so on.

Either way, I hope you got lots out of this. Let me know what you learned from this in the comments below.

David Andrew Wiebe has built an extensive career in songwriting, live performance, recording, session playing, production work, investing, and music instruction. In addition to helping musicians unlock their full potential, he also continues to maintain a performance schedule with Long Jon Lev and Adrenalize. If you'd like to be notified whenever the blog is updated, click here to subscribe.